European Pressurized Reactors (EPR): Nuclear power’s latest costly and delayed disappointments
France has a poor record with their design and construction of their EPRs.
The three EPRs in Europe have reported significant problems:
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The Flamanville reactor in Normandy, France, was originally estimated to cost €3.3 billion and be completed in 2012. Construction began in 2007. Since then, issues surrounding welds for the reactor vessel have helped drive the cost to €13.2 billion, and fuel loading is not expected to occur until 2024.
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Construction began on the Olkiluoto 3 reactor in southern Finland in 2005. Originally projected to cost €3 billion and be completed in 2009, its price tag has soared to €11 billion. After several delays, it was scheduled to go online last year, but issues with feedwater pumps have delayed its commissioning to later in 2023.
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The Hinkley Point C project in the southwestern United Kingdom broke ground in 2017 at an estimated cost of £18 billion. Issues with siting, however, have caused costs to soar to £25 billion, and the project isn’t expected to be finished before 2027.
Despite the issues with the EPRs, the French government—which recently announced plans to fully nationalize Électricité de France S.A. (EDF)—has been pushing for more to be built. EDF has an agreement in principle to build a half-dozen EPRs in India and has been aggressively marketing the design in Slovakia and Poland.
“It’s true that we should have diversified sources of electricity,” Bass said. “But those sources should be proven and cost-effective. Wind and solar energy are both. Investors and ratepayers will be better served by less-costly sources of renewable energy.”